Girls’ Tennis rivalry match against MC spirals into controversial defeat
October 5, 2019
In one of the most competitive matches this season, the girl’s varsity tennis team took on the experienced Marin Catholic Wildcats (MC) at Dominican University. With Redwood and MC tied for first, Tuesday’s match was the determinant for who would maintain the lead in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL). After a fierce battle, Redwood fell short to MC 4-3.
Head coach Charles Frager said the team has been implementing a new offensive approach to take on the Wildcats rather than counter punching (a defensive approach in tennis). He attributes Redwood’s success to sophomore singles player Georgia Harms for sticking to their strategy, especially against Mina Anmadi–a strong asset on MC’s team.
Already, in the first set of matches, the Giants were faced with tough competitors. One of the first matches began with sophomore Gabriela Rosenfeld playing against a talented MC opponent. Rosenfeld lost the first set, however, the score remained close throughout the game.
Controversy arose in the second set when Rosenfeld hit a shot that she claimed was in bounds. However, her opponent refused to give her the point, arguing that it was out of bounds. The coaches got involved, and the point was awarded to MC. Rosenfeld lost the hard-fought battle but acknowledges that obstacles fuel her competitive spirit, helping her performance.
“After the disagreement, I was frustrated, and it motivated me. I’m unhappy with what happened, but I knew that I deserved it, so I tried [to win], but it didn’t turn out that way,” Rosenfeld said.
Since the players are in charge of reffing their own matches, Frager relies on the team’s morals to resolve tough situations like these.
“We really emphasize sportsmanship on the court. We play hard and never want to give anything away in terms of line calls. That is a tricky part of tennis because a lot of it is self-refereed,” Frager said
After the first six matches came to an end, Redwood was tied with MC 3-3. Junior Erin Roddy and MC player Sofia Guerra competed in the only remaining match, which determined the winner of the Rivalry. Guerra won the first set by just a few points. After the intense beginning of the second set, Roddy went up 6-5 until the coaches preemptively stopped the match due to darkness.
Senior captain Lindsay Dubin said the team was looking forward to the game on Thursday, despite being nervous for the outcome.
“The fact that [Erin Roddy] has to play [two days later], she’s probably really nervous now because when she was playing her first match, I’m not sure if she realized it was the deciding match. Now, of course, she realizes she is the deciding match,” Dubin said.
The match resumed Thursday, two days later. Starting off the day, MC’s Guerra won the first set. The score was then 6-6, forcing a 7 point tiebreaker to conclude the second set. Guerra came out strong, defeating Roddy 7-4 in the tiebreaker, securing the win for MC.
Despite the loss, Frager is very impressed with how his team performed and their resilience against a tough opponent.
“I thought we played great, and I think we fought hard. MC is a big rival of ours, and they play just as hard. It was really just an amazing tennis day. A lot of the matches went to tiebreakers, but we fought the whole time,” Frager said.
Redwood’s next match is against Tamalpais High School on Monday, Oct. 7 at College of Marin.
